Paley White Teacher

Vivian Gussin Paley is a white, Jewish teacher who is highly respected by parents, educators all over the country, and anyone who reads her thoughts on basic issues such as gender, story, play, and how children, especially kindergarteners, think. Paley is able to expose these young children to racism and separation in the classroom. In 1979, White Teacher was the first book Paley got published. This book is her argument that it is important to teach children to like themselves for who they are, but also appreciate and recognize the beautiful differences in their classmates. This book is an amazing learning experience for anyone who reads it.

Throughout the book, Paley describes her experiences working in many different schools. The schools

She makes a difference in all of her children’s lives. She changes the way they think about color, race, and as individuals. She portrays her argument perfectly in this quote, “Those of us who have been outsiders understand the need to be seen exactly as we are and to be accepted and valued. Our safety lies in schools and societies in which faces with many shapes and colors can feel an equal sense of belonging. Our children must grow up knowing and liking those who look and speak in different ways, or they will live as strangers in a hostile land” (Pg. 132) Paley was way before her time period. She strongly believed in an integrated society and she always felt the need to plant the idea in the child’s head, so they wouldn’t grow up to have racist thoughts like their parents. Although there wasn’t many black children her class, she treated them all the same, and made sure they knew they were beautiful exactly how they are. Paley reasons, “It is often hard to learn from people who are just like you. Too much is taken for granted. Homogeneity is fine in a bottle of milk, buy in the classroom it diminishes the curiosity that ignites discovery” (Pg. 53.) Paley encounters a student named Michelle who when asked what was beautiful, she pointed to the girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. Paley assured she is even more beautiful in her brown skin. I believe Paley is such an amazing teacher is because she is a white Jewish woman, who is able to point out differences and still acknowledge the fact of not judging another classmate based on another’s skin